RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

found

WILLOW WATCHED Ash slip into the living space, glancing around at the tall book shelves, the large mouth of a dim fireplace, and the three couches that were in the center of the room. She occupied one of them, looking at him over the one across from her. 

"Feels like a college interview." He joked, taking a few more hesitant steps into the room.

Daryl muttered something under his breath and shoved him further in, gesturing for him to sit down. He obeyed, and strolled around the couch across from her, sinking into the flat cushion.

Willow gave a small nod to Daryl, and he took his place by the window, leaning against the sill, his eyes heavy on the back of Ash's head.

"I need to know everything." She was the first to say. "Everything before Negan, everything during Negan, and I'll decided if there will be an after."

He sat back further into the couch, crossing his leg and resting his ankle on top of his knee. "Ask away."

She stayed on the edge of the couch, clenching her hands together between her knees. "Start in Atlanta. Tell me about how you got here. How you found me."

It wasn't until then that his facade dropped, and he was visibly uncomfortable. Maybe it was her interrogation, or maybe he felt Daryl's piercing eyes on him. He shifted his weight on the couch, tapping his finger anxiously on his knee. "When we got swarmed in Atlanta, I practically got pushed all the back to the way we came from. I didn't know if you and Sienna made it. From the outside looking in, I thought there was no way in hell you did. There were so many..." He cleared his throat, sitting more upright into the couch. "I ran North a bit, away from the city. That was the only way I could go. They were drawing in more and more, and there was no way I could push through with just a knife and my good intentions. North, I found a few men. Wasn't exactly the welcome wagon I was expecting. They put a gun to my head and were going to rob me. Of course, I didn't have anything worth taking. Hell, they didn't even want my knife. They already had guns and ammo- more than I had ever seen."

"I pleaded with them. Told them I was just trying to find my little sister and my niece. Their leader didn't buy it and still thought I was no good, but his sidemen took pity on me and convinced their leader to bring me into their place." He looked at his fingers and smiled. "I was expecting more assholes and more guns to my face, but instead, I was swarmed by elderly people. They were running a nursing home- or, whatever remained of it. The leader, Guillermo, told me they were trying to get them out and away from the city, but shit hit the fan quicker than expected, and they ended up fortifying and barricading the place from the dead. I only ran into them that day because they were out looking for supplies and medications."

He looked back up at her, his smile gone. "I was helping a woman when they told me some assholes were riding the streets, car horns blaring and drawing more of the dead in. I was ready to leave right then and there, because when I heard that car horn for myself echoing down the street, I had the slightest bit of hope again. They wouldn't let me, of course. Didn't want to take the risk of opening the doors when a herd that big was getting riled up. So I stayed, and I waited, and waited. I was there for a week before I finally got out. Atlanta wasn't ever going to settle down, and they weren't ever going to let me out because of it."

"So how did you convince them?" She asked warily.

He laughed. "Guillermo's right hand man isn't hard to convince. I slipped him my last pack of cigarettes the day before, and he let me go the next night."

"And where did you go from there?"

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze drifted off, deep in thought. "Honestly, a lot of it is a blur. I was running most days, hiding during the nights. Didn't have much food or water on me. There were times where I didn't want to keep running. I didn't know if I would ever catch up to you... but I had that picture- you and Sienna. You have it now, don't you?"